Easter, the celebration that marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, is considered the most important event in Christendom, the principal and greatest feast of the ecclesiastical year. It is the belief of adherents to the Faith that if Jesus had not resurrected on the third day as he promised, Christianity itself would have faced a tremendous challenge of credibility.
It is a festival described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial after his crucifixion by the Romans on Calvary. It is also considered the most important date in the Christian calendar as it affirms the foundation of all Christian belief. In Western Christianity, Eastertide, also known as the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts for seven weeks or 50 days, concluding with Pentecost Sunday, the day the Apostles received the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
The resurrection confirmed Jesus as the mighty Son of God and serves as evidence that God will judge the world justly. For those who have faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, “death is swallowed up in victory.”
Any person who chooses to follow the Messiah receives “a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”. Through faith in the working of God, those who follow Jesus are spiritually resurrected with Him so that they may walk in a new way of life and receive eternal salvation.
Easter is linked to the Passover and Exodus from Egypt recorded in the Old Testament through the Last Supper, sufferings and crucifixion of Jesus that preceded the resurrection. One interpretation of the Gospel of John is that Jesus, as the Passover Lamb, was crucified at roughly the same time as the Passover lambs were being slain in the temple.
Easter strengthens the average Christian’s belief in life everlasting, in life after death. Its importance can be gleaned from the fact that Christmas, an event that is the first step in the salvation journey, is celebrated only in preparation for Easter. As the centre of the greater part of the ecclesiastical year, the order of other feasts depends on and derives their significance from the Easter date. It is the commemoration of the slaying of the true Lamb of God and the Resurrection of Christ, the cornerstone upon which the Christian faith is built, the oldest feast of the Christian Church and the connecting link between the Old and New Testaments.
Preparation for Easter, for a section of the Christian world, begins on Ash Wednesday and goes through 40 days of praying, fasting, abstinence and almsgiving that ends on Good Friday. Easter offers believers an opportunity to appreciate the enormity of the contradiction embedded in St Paul’s assertion in his letter to the Philippians that ‘to die is to gain’. That Jesus died and is glorified within the Easter period offers believers a unique time to reflect on the immensity of the mystery of life everlasting.
For us as Nigerians, however, during this particular Easter celebration, it is instructive that we ponder over the challenges we face as a people with a common national heritage. As in the events that culminated in the resurrection: the fear, the anxiety and expectations that the disciples of Jesus went through, Nigerians are beginning to wonder, with apprehension and immeasurable trepidation, the impact of insecurity of life and property – the abductions and kidnappings for ransom, the killings, food insecurity, unemployment and destruction of property – as all raise questions that are constantly begging for answers.
However, as the apostles of Jesus celebrated His defeat of death as exemplified in the resurrection, so also are Nigerians hoping to overcome the challenges of banditry and terrorism, rise above the state of hopelessness and despondency, to the excitement and a new lease of life promised by the drivers of the ongoing political dispensation.
Easter gives the faithful hope in the second coming of the Messiah, so also are Nigerians hoping with bated breath for the government to begin the process of rebuilding the nation, the economy and lifestyle almost brought to a halt by criminal elements.
As we mark this Easter season, its significance can never be lost to those who believe. That is to say, the joy of the season reinforces the belief of the faithful that the hard times brought about by socioeconomic uncertainties, insecurity, threat to life and property are momentary and will be overcome through faith in the risen Christ and hope that His kingdom will come as promised. Based on this, we are encouraged to remain ardent in prayers for the political leaders as they strive to make meaning out of the seeming confusion in the land.
